THE author of the time-travelling series has revealed that her best-selling books have not only inspired fans to visit Scotland…but to live here.

Get weekly news by email

And while some fans have been inspired to visit Scotland after reading the books or watching the television series, others are looking to live here, according to author Diana Gabaldon.

Speaking to VisitScotland, Gabaldon said that there was no doubt that Scotland plays a starring role in the new production.

She said: “The photography is amazing, not that Scotland by itself isn’t amazing, but the way they’ve photographed it. Ron (Moore, the producer) said from the beginning when he realised that we could film in Scotland – which is what he and I both wanted – that it must be as much a character in the show as any of the actual cast members, and it certainly is. It’s just spectacular.”

“I’ve seen over the years various attempts to make my work into a two-hour movie and I can tell you on the basis of what I’ve seen that it’s flatly impossible to do that. It was a great relief to me to get the opportunity to do a 16-episode television series.

"I was thinking, ‘at least there will be room.’ I knew Ron Moore had a great reputation as a storyteller and a film-maker and I told him, ‘this is the first script based on my work that I’ve seen that did not make me want to turn white or burst into flames!’”

Gabaldon added: “They (the publishers) fortunately gave me a three-book contract when they bought Outlander and I said to my husband, ‘Well I really must go and see the place!’ So we went to London, rented a car and drove up to the Highlands and spent several weeks roaming around and looking at things.”

“I remember standing on the Border at Carter Bar next to the big monolith that says Scotland on one side and England on the other. I looked out over Scotland and said, ‘yes, I recognise this place. It’s just as I had been imagining it.”

Look back on the Outlander series so far by clicking through the picture gallery below.